Leah's story
by Miss Woozy
Summary: Sara’s brother & sisterinlaw are found murdered while their daughter is missing. GSR. Case closed now fluff
1. Default Chapter

Leah's Story

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with CSI except a few pieces of merchandise.

Spoilers: None

Rating: T (pg-13)

Summary: Sara's brother & sister-in-law are found murdered while their daughter is missing. Small case file, GSR.

Chapter 1

When Sara arrived at work one night, she thought it was going to be a normal shift, and not the horror scene that unfolded. The main assignment was a double murder in a hotel room, while a child is missing. When she started to leave to work the case, Grissom grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I'm sorry Sara, but I can't let you work this case."

"Why not?" She snapped back. "It's not as if it's one of those domestic cases that you so conveniently keep me away from recently, is it? So what's so special about this one?"

He sighed, trying to find the best way to break the news, "The, er, victims' names are David and Angela Sidle." As he spoke, he could see the color drain from her face. "I'm so sorry Sara."

She tried to hold back the tears, but was struggling, so she excused herself and ran to the bathroom. 'I can't let him see me like this again,' she thought, 'Grissom has seen me break down too many times recently; I need to hold it together. If he finds out the truth, I don't know how I'm going to explain.'

When she finally returned to the break room, she found out that Grissom had already left to process the scene along with Greg. She was left with a robbery case in a local convenience store.

Sara found it hard to concentrate while processing to store, as her mind kept traveling back to what Grissom was doing, and where Leah was. She fingerprinted the counter, but there were too many to distinguish which ones belonged to the culprits.

As she was finishing up, she noticed some blood on the floor near the broken window. "Mrs. Deane," She asked the owner, "do you know if the robbers cut themselves while trying to get in or out at all?"

"No, not that I know of, why?" Mrs. Deane replied while trying to shove her hand deep into her pocket. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the CSI.

"I'm gonna have to take a sample of your DNA, to check if this is yours or the robbers. Is that OK?"

The woman nodded, "you'll probably find out that it's mine anyway, since I cut myself there last week when putting some of the cans on the shelf. I'm getting a bit clumsy in my old age you see."

"That may be so, but this blood in only a few hours old. Can I look at your hands please?" When the woman refused, Sara started to get frustrated, "either you show me your hand now, or I ring to get a court order, it's your choice."

Mrs. Deane thought about it for a moment, before sighing and putting her hands in front of Sara. "Fine then, have it your way!"

"I sincerely hope that you didn't do this yourself." Noticing the look on the woman's face, Sara continued. "You do know that this is a criminal offence, making a false claim & wasting police time."

"Sorry, I just needed the money from the insurance company; I didn't think all this was going to happen. I swear, I never meant any harm." Sara could tell that the woman was being honest, and so decided to be kind her.

"I will let you off this time, but please next time, try a different way to get more money – one that's legal." She nodded and left the store.

As she was walking back to her Tahoe, Sara opened her cell phone and speed dialed Grissom. Upon reaching voicemail for the second time, she decided to give up and head back to the lab.

A/N: If anyone would like to beta, then I would be grateful!

Please review (& be kind :D)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know this is a slow start, but be patient & it will get better in a few chapters. It is my first fanfic so please be kind and R&R

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Chapter 2

In the hotel room, Grissom started to process the bedroom, while Greg worked on the bathroom. "Nothing seems out of place in the bathroom," Greg called through the closed door. "I printed the door handle, but I doubt he went in there." 

"Great job Greg," Grissom replied, "now tell me what you see here." He pointed to the bodies that were lying on the bed.

"Blood spatter near the wife suggests that she was lying on the bed when she was attacked, possibly asleep," he looked towards Grissom for acknowledgement and when he received a nod, he continued. "The husband, however, does not have much blood spatter around him, and there is a pool of blood nearer the door, suggesting that he was stabbed while standing by the door, and moved to the bed."

"Photograph and swab the blood near the door so David can take the bodies away," asked Grissom. Greg followed orders and returned within minutes with evidence ready to be fully processed.

"I hear this is Sara's brother," the coroner stated, "this must be tough on her. Is there any news on the daughter?" Grissom shook his head, "too bad, I wonder who's going to look after her now?"

The thought hadn't entered his head until that moment, but Grissom knew that he won't stop thinking about this for a while now. 'Did Angela have any relatives? Does Sara have any more relatives? If Angela doesn't, then does that mean that Sara is the last remaining relative of Leah? There I go, over-analyzing things again.' Despite Greg's attempts, it was only when he tapped Grissom's shoulder, the older CSI returned from his revere.

"Hello, are you OK Grissom?" he asked cautiously, unsure what reaction he would receive. "You seemed a little out of it just then."

"Sorry Greg, I'm fine, really." Even though he gave a convincing smile, to a CSI, it was obvious that he wasn't telling the truth. Before Greg could call him on it, however, Grissom spotted something shiny, coming from under the bed. On closer inspection it turned out to be pocket knife with a wooden handle.

As Grissom wanted the younger CSI to learn, he allowed Greg to work the case as the primary, although he would still be there in the background reminding Greg on what to do. "Now, tell what you see, and include everything. Don't leave anything down to assumptions."

Greg studied the knife for a few moments before sharing his findings. "Well, it appears to be a general purpose pocket knife with a wooden handle. It is approximately 10cm long and 2.5cm wide. There are blood drops on both the metal blade and the wooden handle." He fingerprinted the wood to see if they could find out who held the knife, but fingerprinting wood is not easy. "No clear prints can be made out from the handle, but that is not surprising. I'm going to swab the blood and bag the knife as evidence."

"Well done Greg." The younger CSI smiled. "When we get back to the lab we may check under the handle for blood, check we haven't missed any and see if the perp was unlucky enough to hurt himself while killing the victims. Now back to the rest of the crime scene, does anything else seem out of place here?"

"Not that I can see, but where was the girl while all this was happening? She must have hidden somewhere or the killer would have probably gone after her too. Or perhaps she was kidnapped, and the killer is still holding her."

Grissom would have smiled at the theories Greg was producing if it wasn't for the fact that lives were involved. "If the killer did kidnap Leah, then why not leave a ransom note or call? Do you think a kidnapper would leave a murder weapon at a crime scene?" Greg shook his head. "Now, you tell me where you think she would have hidden."

Greg looked around the room thinking of possible places that a 13 year old would use as a hiding place while their parents were being murdered. He came across a cupboard that appeared to have been opened recently, and some of the contents had been moved where a small person may have been. "This cupboard can be accessed from two sides, and therefore she may have been in here after going being in the bathroom and hearing whatever was happening in the main part of the room."

"Good work." Grissom complemented, "dust for fingerprints on the inside, to check and see if the killer tried to get in or not."

"Sure!" Greg replied and carried out the task. Now that all the evidence they thought they would find had been collected, they made their way back to CSI.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry it's taken a while to update, but I've had a lot of school work to do, & I've been struggling with how to actually write the story. I have the outline in my head, but I want to get this case bit out of the way quickly to get to the fluffy bits ;)

* * *

When they arrived back, Greg went straight to the lab, but Grissom made a stop in his office where he found a very distraught Sara Sidle nervously fidgeting on one of the chairs. "Any news on Leah?" She asked. When he shook his head she sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Grissom said, while surprising her by placing a hand on her shoulder. He felt her shudder beneath him and muttered a quick 'sorry'. He started to walk out his office when Sara stopped him.

"Don't be sorry," she said, "I should be thanking you for working the case, but promise me that you will find her safe." Tears were appearing in her the corners of her eyes. "Can you do that for me?"

Grissom was speechless, he didn't know whether to promise to find her, knowing full well that there is a distinct possibility that he will break it, or say the truth now, and risk losing Sara's trust and breaking her heart. "You know I can't promise anything, other then the fact that I will do my very best to find her." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he wasn't sure if she was paying much attention.

* * *

She stood in his office for a couple moments longer after Grissom had left, before exiting herself to go the break room. 'I know Grissom shouldn't be handling this case, but he doesn't know that yet. Should I tell him now or later? Either way, he's still probably going to hate me for not telling him.' She was so lost in thought that she nearly bumped into Greg as he was walking along the corridor nearly spilling the two mugs of coffee he was carrying.

"Sorry Greg didn't see you there." she smile apologetically.

"It's ok Sara; I was just on my way to find you, because Grissom told me to give you this, said that you needed it." He handed her one of the mugs. As much as she didn't want to admit, he was kind of sweet when it came to things like this.

"Thanks," she replied as the warm liquid passed down her throat. Yep, she definitely needed that. After trading goodbye, Greg went back to one of the labs to process the knife, while Sara made her way to the break room.

* * *

When Greg reached the lab, he noticed Grissom was not there, even thought he had said he was going to be, and had seen him go in jus a few moments before. 'Perhaps he snuck out while I was talking to Sara,' he thought to himself. He noticed a note on the desk addressed to him, it read:

_Greg_

_I've gone to help Brass find Leah as he may have found something. Please carry on with processing the knife; I know you don't need me there to help you. If you need anything, you can call my cell. I shouldn't be gone long._

_Grissom_

_P.S. Could you tell Sara where I've gone please, but don't worry her too much?_

"Sure thing," he muttered to himself. Methodically, he took apart the knife, and started to swab the different parts of blood. It appeared that some of it had landed on the handle, and therefore may have belonged to the killer. He swabbed it, and sent it to DNA where Mia could process it. 'As much as I miss working in the lab, working in the field is so much more fun. The lab explosion proved that staying in the lab isn't safe either, so it doesn't matter where I am, I can still be put in danger. That means I can work whatever job I prefer.'

* * *

After handing the samples to Mia, he walked passed the break room to check up on Sara. "How you doing now Sara?" he asked while startling her. She had been sitting, staring out of the window in her own little world for about 20 minutes before Greg had walked in.

"Same, any news?" she asked hopefully.

"Well Grissom let a little while ago saying to meet up with Brass saying that something came up, but he didn't say any details." He handed her the note that Grissom had left.

Sara's eyes lit up, "well why don't we ring and find out where they are? I can't just sit around here and do nothing. I have to do something!" she was almost shouting, which made Greg reluctantly agree to call Brass for an update. He got out his cell phone and dialed.

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A/N: sorry couldn't resist cliffhanger lol. I promise, GSR fluff will be there soon!

Please R&R!

Thanks to **Red Lighting **for reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

Brass hung up the phone after relaying the latest developments of the case to him. Someone had seen a young girl leave the hotel crying only 10 minutes before the bodies were found. The description of the girl matched Leah. She was said to have been heading through the park right opposite the hotel. Brass and Grissom made their way along the path that lead through the center of the park towards the wooded area behind it.

* * *

As they approached, they heard rustling noises coming from between the trees. At first, Jim Brass put it down to some homeless guy living in the woods. They had met enough of that type in the years they have served the county. On closer inspection they could hear faint sniffling noises, almost as if someone was crying.

Grissom had brought his torch from his toolkit, and shone the beam through the branches. It landed on a young girl. She had curly brown hair that was messed up, and had blue eyes, just like his. She looked around 13-14, although she could have been anywhere from 12-16. Her clothes looked like they had been worn for a while, and been dirtied by the soil from the trees. This girl definitely matched the description of Leah. She had a slight familiarity about her – 'definitely a Sidle' he thought. She also reminded him of someone else, although he couldn't quite put his finger on who.

"Leah?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her, even though he had just shone his torchlight in her eye. She nodded in agreement not trusting her voice. "My name's Grissom and this is Captain Jim Brass, from the Las Vegas Police Department. Could you come with us for a while?"

* * *

Slowly she got up from her seated position against a tree, and followed the two men out of the park. When they reached the open area of park with its own streetlights, Grissom noticed some spots of blood on the back of Leah's T-shirt.

Greg was on his way with Sara, since Brass had called him on their way back from the woods to give him an update and Sara had insisted to accompanying him.

"Leah," Grissom called. When she looked up at him, he continued, "I want you to go with Greg Sanders when he gets here, and he will need all the clothes that you're wearing now."

She nodded, "what am I going to wear then?" She asked.

He smiled, 'she definitely is a Sidle.' "A paramedic will come in a moment and check you over, and will find some clean clothes for you to wear." She nodded again. Within moments, a paramedic had arrived and scooped her off into the ambulance to check her over.

* * *

A few moments later, she returned, changed into a plain white T-shirt and pants. At that moment, Greg arrived with Sara, and had barely stopped the tahoe before she had exited it and ran after Leah.

"Please don't scare us like that again. Ok?" She asked the frightened young girl, no nodded again in acknowledgement. Until then, Sara had managed to hold back any tears that threatened to fall, and Leah thought she had shed all those that she could, but upon seeing each other, they both cried into each other's arms over the loss of a brother and father.

Grissom had to resist the urge to put his arms around both of them, and try to release them of some of the pain.

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A/N: Aww GSR moments coming up real soon! Just a couple more chapters. Please R&R:D

Thanks to **Sidle Chick **for reviewing and offering to beta. Just send me an e-mail (it's on my profile page) if you're still interested.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry haven't posted for a while - schoolwork. Well most of it is finished for the year, so I will hope to post more often. Thanks to **Sidle Chick** for beta-ing.

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Chapter 5"I need to know something, "Leah began shakily. When Sara nodded, she continued, "Is it true what Mom and Dad said?" 

Sara looked confused at first, unsure about what the child meant. Deep down she was fairly sure that she knew but didn't want to admit it. "Which was what Leah?"

She whispered into Sara's ear, "Are you my Mother?" She took the silent response as a yes. "Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was beginning to rise.

"Leah calm down, we talk about this in a minute, but right now you need to be checked out at the hospital." Sulkily, the child agreed to be led into the back of the ambulance.

Sara watched from a distance and was about to turn and walk away when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She would have normally thought this was someone like Greg giving her support, but she could sense every time Grissom came near, and this time was no exception. "Why don't you go with her? You look exhausted."

She grumbled a small "thanks" and began walking towards the ambulance just before they closed the back doors. "Excuse me," she called to the paramedic, "Sorry but I don't suppose I could travel with you as well?"

"Are you a relative?" He asked.

Automatically she responded, "Yes, I'm her aunt." Immediately after she said it, she regretted the words.

"I hate you!" Leah screamed, "Why don't you just admit it?"

"Sorry, I mean, I'm her Mother," Sara tried again, although slightly quieter, looking apologetically at her daughter. '_My _daughter' she thought, 'only she's not only mine, is she? Should I tell her father, or not? I know it's going to come out now anyway.'

Turning around, making sure Grissom hadn't heard too much of the conversation, she waved at him and stepped into the ambulance hoping that she could mend some of the damage that had been caused over the past 13-14 years. She noticed how confused he looked, and wondered if he had worked anything out, 'surely he wouldn't think this, would he?'

* * *

The ambulance ride was silent, and Sara held Leah's hand. At first the she had refused, but it wasn't long before she had fallen asleep, and Sara took the opportunity of studying the child. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "who would want to do this to you or us?" Tears were beginning to appear again in the corners of her eyes, but she brushed them off casually with her sleeve.

* * *

Grissom followed the ambulance to the hospital and watched as the people inside exited the vehicle and head inside the hospital. Inside he grabbed Sara's hand, "Sara," he began, "please wait; is she ok?" he noticed the tears in her eyes. "Come here," he surprised her by drawing her into a hug, "do want to get something to eat or drink, or are you planning to go and wait with her?"

"I might go and get some coffee or something, I doubt Leah wants to see me at the moment." She paused, "I'm not exactly one of the popular people around her." She joked. She tried to laugh, but instead began crying. Grissom pulled her closer to him. She was too tired to complain.

As they started walking towards the cafeteria, Sara said, "Grissom, there's something you ought to know about Leah-" she was cut off by a doctor running passed them, nearly knocking Sara flying, towards the OR. He uttered his apologies before carrying on along his journey. "What was I saying?" She asked once the doctor had disappeared.

"You said that there was something that I should know about Leah, before we were interrupted," Grissom replied. He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"You know what, it doesn't matter at the moment, I think I had better see how Leah is doing. I don't suppose you could get me some coffee and take to me in a moment could you?" When he nodded, she continued, "Ok then, I'll see you in a few minutes, bye." She waved to him, before turning around and heading back to the cubicles where Leah was being treated.

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Please R&R. I'm sure that most of you will have guessed where I'm going with this story, but if you haven't it will be even more obvious in the next chapter. 


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to** Adenara Yatman** for reviewing and **Sidle Chick **for beta-ing. you mean a lot. I don't have much schoolwork at the moment (& only 2 weeks til the summer holidays so I will try & update faster! Enjoy.

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Chapter 6

When Sara reached Leah, the nurse had just finished double checking that she was ready to go home, and had handed her a set of clothes to wear, while her own were being processed. "How are you doing now Leah?" Sara asked as she stepped through the gap in the curtain. She was met with silence, "Ok, then you can ignore me, and be stuck here, or you can be polite and at least like me a bit, even if it is for just a ride out of here." She could tell that Leah had the Sidle stubborn streak to her, which made Sara laugh quietly to herself.

"Fine then, whatever, but it still doesn't excuse the fact that you lied to me my whole life. Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"You're right, you know, perhaps I should have told you earlier, but as time went on, it was easier to live the lie, then to admit the truth." Sara replied. "Do you think it would have been easier to have put you up for adoption, so that I never saw you again? Or was it better to keep you in the family so you can have a happy childhood?"

Leah started sniffing again and Sara handed her a tissue. Once she had finished drying her eyes, she asked, "Who said that I wouldn't have had a happy childhood if I stayed with you?"

Sara sighed and leaned forward. Her voice was almost a whisper, "Trust me on this. If you stayed with me, then you would have been brought up in a single parent family, staying in daycare everyday while I went to college. Is that what you wanted?"

"I don't know, perhaps I only wanted to know if my real mother loved me at all, if she was able to give me away so easily."

"Let me tell you something, Leah. It nearly broke my heart to have to give to away, that was why I gave you to my brother. Since he and his wife couldn't have kids, it made sense. That way you could all be happy. They, by getting a child of their own, and you…you…by getting a happy childhood in a loving home." Tears had started to fall down Sara's cheeks. "Believe me; you were much better off with them, then if you were with me. I just don't do kids. I would have been a useless mother."

"That's not true. You would have been _my_ mother and I would have loved you every day for it." She paused, "it really hurt me when Mom and Dad told me the truth. I was looking around in some old photos, and I noticed that there were loads around the time I was born, and none of the ones of Mom showed her pregnant. Then I finally cam across one of you-" she paused to compose herself again. Sara was still crying, frozen while holding her shaking daughter. "At first I thought you were one of those surrogate mothers for Mom and Dad, but when I asked them about that they became suddenly silent. Mom left the room to cry I think. I always used to wonder why I didn't really look like Mom, perhaps a bit like Dad, but I was nothing alike Mom. When I was younger they said it was because I looked like a Sidle, which meant I looked like you, but that's not true, which would mean I look like my real dad. Who is he by the way?"

There was a moment of silence, while Sara was thinking of whether to tell the 13 year old or not. It was true, she did have a rite to know, but she didn't want her daughter to get hurt like she had done. "Erm." She began, 'should I say I don't know? No, that would mean that I slept around, which I certainly didn't. I am 100 sure of who her father is but I don't know whether to say anything or not.' "Leah, do you remember the man that found you in the park? The man with the police officer."

When Leah nodded, she continued, "Well, when I was in college, he was one of the lecturers that came to give a seminar or bugs." She laughed at the memory, "the first lecture is a bit of a blur, I was more interested in the lecturer then the seminar itself," when Leah giggled, she smiled then continued, "Anyway, after the seminar we got talking and he invited me out for a coffee in the campus café. Well, then, on the last night that he was around, before he had to return home, there was a party from one of my friends. I can't remember how or why, but a few of the lecturers and professors were invited…"

"_Hey Sara, isn't that Dr Grissom, that lecturer you were drooling over?" Jane, her friend teased her._

"_I was not drooling!" Sara said trying to defend herself. Before she could say any more, the man in question had spotted them and had started to walk over towards them. As soon as she saw him advancing, and their eyes locked, her mind went blank, and it was as if there were no other people in the room. She was so far into her own little world that she didn't hear the comments coming from behind her saying "yeah she's got it bad" or "go on Sara, get in there!"_

"_Hey Sara, how are you?" Grissom asked when he approached. He too was oblivious to the girls behind her._

_She cleared her throat, "I'm great actually, how about you? Looking forward to going home tomorrow?" She asked, suddenly remembering that they were not alone. Before he could answer her question, she asked, "Do you want to go somewhere more private, because I doubt we can have a proper conversation in here with so many people watching and listening." She indicated to the girls behind her when she said the last part._

_Grissom smiled, he too was uncomfortable in front of this small audience. "Sure, I don't think there's anyone on the patio." Sara quietly left her seat and headed out the French windows onto the patio._

_Her friends had been shouting comments for the passed5 minutes and it was getting both embarrassing and tiresome for both in the pair. "Anyway, where were we?" She asked again. "Oh yeah, are you looking forward to going home tomorrow?"_

"_Not really, no." He began, "It's not that I don't want to be back, I mean I miss my friends, but I also like it here, there are people here I will miss." He stopped when he noticed Sara blushing. "Did you know how beautiful you are when you blush?" The comment only seemed to make things worse._

_Neither of them was sure whether it was the heat of the moment or some underlying thing between them, that made Grissom place his hand on her cheek, and draw her face to his. The moment their lips touched, all time seemed to stop, and it didn't start up again until a few moments later when they parted for air._

_Since they were so wrapped up in their own emotions, where it was like no-one else existed, they didn't notice a woman search the party for Grissom, and stop, almost dead, when she reached to patio and spotted the couple together. Upon seeing them, she quickly left the party._

"_Do you want to stay here, or do you want to come back to my hotel room for the night?" he asked, silently praying that she would say yes to the second one. He saw her eyes light up and took that as a yes, and kissed her again. "Shall we?" He asked gesturing to the door. Not trusting her voice, Sara just nodded and held his hand as he pulled her towards his car. 'This was going to be some night,' he thought._

"Hey Mom, are you there?" Leah asked. The suddenly change in Sara's name seemed to wake her from her reverie.

"Huh? Sorry where was I?" she asked.

"You were telling me who my father was, and when you met him." The child exclaimed like a stroppy teenager.

"Oh yeah, sorry, well when Dr Grissom arrived, we began talking again, only this time it kind of went a bit further, and we ended up in his hotel room." She blushed as she retold the story. "What happened next is probably at bit obvious, along with what happened over the next 9 months." She laughed.

What neither of the occupants in the cubicle were aware of, was that Grissom had returned with some coffee, early enough to have caught the end of the conversation.

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A/N: Please R&R 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry this chapter is shorter then the others, (I'm going away tomorrow, & I wanted to post this quickly) this is partly why it was not betad (Sorry **Sidle Chick** thanks for beta-ing the others anyway :D)

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Chapter 7

Grissom on the other hand, was well aware of the occupants of the cubicle. He had caught the end of the conversation, and being the investigator that he was, he could read between the lines as to what was being said.

'Is she really mine?' He asked himself, 'How should I be feeling right now, because I don't really know. It seems to be a mixture of pain, confusion and joy. Why did Sara lie to me? I know technically it wasn't a lie, but not saying anything is bad enough isn't it? I'm just over rationalizing things again now. I really must stop doing that!'

He was brought back from his daydream by a nurse walking passed, confused as to why a man would be standing in the middle of the corridor, holding 2 cups of coffee, staring at nothing in particular.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" She asked.

"Huh?" he replied. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Sorry, I was daydreaming a little bit," he laughed, "I was just taking this coffee to my friend here." He gestured to the cubicle.

She didn't look very convinced, "Ok, I'll leave you to it. If you need anything just call."

"Ok, thank you" Grissom replied.

* * *

Sara heard some mumbling through the curtain, but thought better then to investigate. She knew immediately that it was Grissom, 'how much has he heard?' she thought, 'what am I going to tell him now? I suppose I had better talk to him.

"I'm sorry Leah, but I'm going to have to go outside and talk to your Dad," she looked over at the child. 'Wow, I never thought I would have to say that.' "Is that ok?"

Leah nodded, although Sara was fairly convinced that her daughter was actually asleep. Probably exhausted from the eventful day.

Sara stepped through the curtain, in front a still stunned looking Grissom. "Look Griss," she began. She had no idea where to begin. "I'm sorry" she decided on. "I know that you deserve to have known about her a long time ago-" Grissom tried to but in, "please let me continue," he nodded, "but believe it or not I seriously believed that I was doing the right thing!" she laughed. "Do you want to meet your daughter? She's actually asleep at the moment, but we need to take her home soon anyway." She smiled.

"Erm…" Grissom tried to talk, but no words would come out. He cleared his throat and tried again, "I would love to." He smiled. His blue eyes locked onto Sara's chocolate brown ones for a split second before she was forced to look away. She couldn't seem to find the right words to say for an apology, but she hoped that her eyes would say it for her. It seemed that he accepted it, but even so, she still felt guilty if she looked into his eyes any longer.

"So, shall we?" she asked, gesturing to the closed curtain. He nodded and they stepped through.

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A/N: Please Keep R&R. They make my day :D

Special thanks to **berta101**, **Lalenna** (see I did try to get it finished by the end of the week :D), and **CJ Lauren**. You've been great :D.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks everyone who reviewed:D You've been great

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Chapter 8

As the two parents walked through the curtain, the young girl lying on the bed awoke. "Sorry," Grissom said, "I didn't mean to wake you." He smiled sweetly. The kind of smile, that when directed at Sara, made her legs turn to jelly. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm ok," she began, "a little shaken up still though." Leah let out a smile before sighing, and resting her head back against the pillow. "Am I allowed to leave soon?" she asked either of her parents.

Sara walked up to the side of the bed, and addressed her, "The nurse said that you wouldn't be here for very long, so I'm sure you can go soon." She smiled.

"Where am I going to stay?" she asked. She had begun staring and fiddling with a loose bit of thread on the shirt she had been given by the paramedic. It had started as an excuse to avoid eye contact with either of the adults around her, as she was still hurt from the lies, but it has escalated into an obsession. At one point she nearly ripped the whole thread off, but as soon as she noticed the tear forming in the fabric, she decided against it.

Sara and Grissom looked at each other. Neither of them had thought about what would happen now. They had just assumed that the other person had thought of it. "Erm Griss," Sara began, "I think we may have a problem here." He looked at her confusedly. She tried to elaborate, "Well I didn't know that David was coming out here, so I don't have any room at my apartment yet. In a few days or a week or so, I may have something permanent, but there isn't even a bed in the spare room for her to sleep in." When he didn't say anything, she tried to call his name but he still refused to answer. "Grissom," she almost shouted in his ear, "can she stay at your townhouse for a little while?" eventually he looked up at her, but still refused to give an answer, when he looked over at Leah, she tried a different approach, "She is your daughter as well you know."

His head snapped up as his eyes found hers. She could see the hurt in them immediately, and regretted what she had just said. "You say she's my daughter, yet you refused to let me even know she existed, let alone see her, for over 13years"

Tears had threaten to spill from Sara's eyes as soon as he spoke, but she felt that she needed to keep it together for Leah's sake, as much as her own. "I'm sorry ok? How many times do I have to say it before you will believe me? Please look at your daughter and tell her if she can stay with you or not!"

Leah had observed the conversation between Sara and Grissom, and waited silently until they had reached her decision. Even though it was her life they were talking about, it seemed that she didn't get a say in it. She felt it would be better for her to keep quiet, then to say something and give her father a greater reason to be angry. As they had both begun to calm down, she felt she had a chance at saying something without getting her head bitten off. "Can I say something now?" she asked. Grissom had already turned to face her, and has seen the plead in her eyes already. "I know that this must be hard, but I am willing to stay with whoever you feel is best at looking after me. I would prefer it if it were one of you, but I know that it's not possible to stay with you Mom, but Dad-" she saw them both flinch as the names registered again, and they doubted they would get used to hearing them for a while, "but Dad, please let me stay with you. I'm guessing that there are a lot of things that you and Mom need to talk about, but I want to know you now, so am I allowed?" the pleading in her eyes had returned.

"Ok, for a little while," he finally answered, after a period of thinking. He wasn't looking forward to having someone in his private space, but it was hard saying no to the girl's blue eyes. He wondered if that was how Sara felt when she looked at his, but quickly dismissed the thought. The next part he was dreading, "Sara would you like to come to my townhouse for dinner tonight so we can all talk?" Seeing the grin on her face turn into a full blown 'Sara-smile,' one he hadn't seen in a long time, he took that answer as a yes.

'Maybe he will finally get his head out of the microscope with Leah's help' she thought with a smile. "Ok then, how about I come around at about 7.30? Do you have to work tonight? I had better check with my boss that I can have the week off on compassionate leave, considering I have just lost my brother, but I'm sure he would give me the time off if I wanted it." She smiled.

"As a matter of fact, tonight is my scheduled day off anyway," he smiled back. She hadn't seen him smile like that in a while, and was curious as to why. As they stared at each other, they each noticed in the other's eyes, that something else was there, something that wasn't there normally, but neither of them could put a finger on what it was that was extra. They were interrupted by a very left out teenager, who was getting fed up and wanted to go home.

"Hello, as sweet as this is, could one of you please go and find the nurse, and ask her when I can go home? I'm so bored!" she emphasized on the word 'bored' by scrunching her hands into fists, and punching the mattress on the bed.

Both Sara and Grissom looked at their daughter and smiled. 'She has to be ours if she'd that stubborn' Grissom thought to himself. What he hadn't realized was that Sara had stopped looking at Leah, and was staring at him again, lovingly, as he watched is newly found daughter throw a tantrum. For a moment, she thought, 'life's perfect.' She turned around and left the cubicle in search of the nurse to finally discharge Leah.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the blood results from the knife has come through and Mia gave them to Greg. "So how's Sara taking the news?" she asked. Mia hadn't seen Sara when she was at the lab other then when, she handed the lab tech some more blood samples to analyze. The DNA lab was just too full up with other cases to give her a chance to take a break. The day shift lab tech was like a angel from Heaven when he arrived to relieve Mia of her duties.

"Not very well last time we spoke. She practically jumped out the car before I had even stopped properly to get to Leah, anyone would have thought that she was her daughter not her niece." He laughed, unaware of how true he was.

"Well anyway, here are the results from the knife," she paused as he read them, "I'm sorry"

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Hehehe Sorry I like a cliff hanger :p

Please R&R


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to **Forensicgirl **(loved your story :p) and **icklebitodd** for reviewing, & **Sidlechick **for beta-ing (you've been fantastic - & I love your story as well :D)

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Chapter 9

A match had been made from the knife found in the hotel room. Some blood had been found on the handle, where the attacker had cut themselves while stabbing one of the victims. Mia had run the DNA through CODIS, and the match came back as:

_Hank Pettigrew_

"Isn't he that paramedic that Sara dated for a while?" Greg asked.

"I think so, I mean I never knew the guy, but I've heard that he's a lowlife SOB who cheated on her." Mia replied.

Greg slowly shook his head, 'this isn't right, why would he do this? He didn't even know Sara's family. This is a bit much for just revenge isn't it?' he thought to himself. "Yeah, I think technically, he cheated on his fiancé with her, but he never knew about it. Thanks for this Mia, I'd better call her, and see how she's doing"

Mia nodded and returned to the lab to give him some privacy. "Tell we're all thinking of her."

"Sure, will do." He called while dialing the number into his cell. After the third attempt, he was getting frustrated. "Come on Sara, pick up!" It soon reached voice mail again, so he gave up trying to contact her. Instead, he rang Brass to update him, and to ask if he could arrest Hank.

"Brass"

"Hey Brass, how you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, Greg, what's up?" the older man replied.

"I've just got the results from the blood we found on the murder weapon, and they come back Hank Pettigrew."

He could here the anger in Brass' voice as he quickly retorted, "What? That paramedic? Ok then, I'll bring him in for questioning, perhaps he needed to stitch himself up, after playing butcher to the Sidles."

Greg always thought that Brass had a dry sense of humor, but thought better of it then to mention it to the older officer. "Sure, I'll meet you at police headquarters in say 20 minutes?"

"Ok, see ya then" he nearly hung up, "Oh Greg, have you spoken to Sara yet?"

"Not yet, she's not answering, I think her phone's switched off"

Brass thought about it for a second, before replying, "She's probably at the hospital with Leah, which would mean that she'd have to switch it off"

"Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about that. Is Grissom with her, do you know? As I can't get hold of him either."

"Probably," he chuckled at the thought of Grissom actually showing some support and sticking around with Sara. He always knew that his friend had a thing for Sara, but was too scared to admit anything. Hell, everyone knew it, except himself and Sara. 'Does this mean that he's finally noticed that life's too short or something, and that he should do something about his feelings before it's too late?' Brass thought.

"See ya then," Greg's voice broke him from his reverie.

"Yeah see ya!" they both hung up the phone. Brass immediately rung up the DA's office to try and get a warrant for Hank's hands or DNA, if not his actual arrest. Within 20 minutes, Greg had arrived, and they left for Hank's apartment hoping for find him, with a cut on his hand, from stabbing two people.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the hospital, Leah, was being discharged. "Can I have an ice-cream on the way home?" She asked.

Both adults smiled, "We'll think about it, but there are no guarantees." Sara replied. 'wow,' she thought, 'I'm already getting into this parent thing.' She smiled again. She was semi-aware of Grissom's hand on the small of her back, something that he very rarely – if ever – did. She could not stop herself from smiling, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"What are you smiling at?" Grissom whispered seductively into her ear. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as he spoke.

She cleared her throat, "nothing, just this," she pointed around her, "life, everything. Isn't it amazing how some of the best things come from tragedy?" She could see, through the corner of her eye, him smiling as well.

As a gentleman, he opened the front door, of the hospital, for her, and immediately replaced his hand on her back, as they walked along the path towards his car. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe and protected in his arms. "Let's go home" he simply said.

'What's that supposed to mean?' she asked herself. She had a habit of over analyzing every conversation that they were having incase she said something that might make him shut himself off again. She felt like she was worried that their relationship would end, even when there was no 'relationship' per se to begin with. He had ensured that, 'but maybe now, with Leah, he might change.' She thought, hoping to brighten her mood again.

"Ok, then" she replied.

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Thanks, please R&R :D 


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks everyone who reviewed & **SidleChick** for beta-ing :D. This chapter's just fluff. :p

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Chapter 10 

When the three of them arrived at Grissom's townhouse, they were all tired. "Why don't I show you the guest room, so you can have a lie down, while your Mom and I talk for a while?"

"Why can't I stay up with you?" she asked with pleading eyes.

Grissom looked at Sara for help. "Because, young lady, you've had a very long day and you're struggling to keep your eyes open as it is." She reasoned, "Besides, there are some things that we need to talk about on our own. Is that ok?"

Leah nodded and went in the direction she assumed was the way to the bedrooms. Grissom sent Sara a silent 'thank you' before following the child to the guest room. "Leah?" He called, "in there," he pointed at the closed door near the end of the corridor. "Now, do you need anything?"

"Well, some clothes, could be useful, as this-" she tugged at the fabric she was wearing, "-is all I have with me." She complained.

"I'll ask Sara to go and get something in a moment, but you'll have to sleep in that, or there may be a T-shirt in my room that you can borrow if necessary," he smiled. She nodded, but after yawning, she realized just how tired she was, and decided it would be just as easy to sleep how she was.

Grissom returned to the living area to find Sara stretched out on the sofa. He wasn't sure if she was asleep or not, but when he went closer, he noticed her breathing had evened out, indicating she was. He was contempt at just watching her sleep, but thought he had better wake her up, before he gets into too much trouble. 'Why does she have to be so beautiful?' He asked himself. Gently shaking her, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him. As much as he tried to hold it, he couldn't help but smile back. She looked so angelic and peaceful. He wondered if it was him that had made her so frustrated recently.

"Hey" she said sleepily.

"Hey yourself," he replied. "Erm, Leah needs some new clothes, and I said that you would go out and get some for her later, but she's asleep now, so I'm sure it can wait."

She looked around the room quickly before catching his questioning eyes, "how long was I asleep?" She asked.

"Not long, couldn't have been more then 10minutes," he smiled again. He couldn't work out why whenever she's around him, he keeps smiling. "You looked like you needed it though,"

"Yeah well, I've never been much of a sleeper, and you know that I keep getting those nightmares. Perhaps one day they'll stop"

"Yeah, well you said you wanted to talk…so talk."

She wasn't sure where to start, she thought it was obvious how she felt about him, but at times, he just seemed oblivious to everything she said or did. "Well, you want to know why I didn't keep Leah for myself?" he nodded, so she continued, "I'm guessing that you overheard what I said to her," she could feel the tears forming in her eyes, "I knew that if she stayed with me, then I wouldn't have been able to look after her like a mother should. Yes, I would love her, but sometimes that wouldn't have been enough. I guess deep down I didn't think she would he happy with me." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want you to become one of those long distance fathers, who only see their kinds every now and then, it wouldn't be fair on Leah."

"Who said anything about that? You know as well as I do, that I would have been on the first plane to San Francisco, and would have been there for you every step of the way. I could have been transferred to be near you." He gently brushed the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs, and cradled her head in his hands. "You know full well that I'm not someone who would let you down like that." He looked her in the eyes and said, "If you let me, I want to help look after her." When she nodded, he surprised her by drawing her head forward, and kissing her forehead.

She looked at him puzzled, "what was that for?" She asked.

"To say thank you-" he smiled again, and he was rewarded with a full blown 'Sara-smile,' "-For everything." They sat staring in each other's eyes, (perhaps trying to find the truth) for what seemed like forever, before they were woken up by a scream coming from the guest bedroom.

They both ran towards the room, and opened the door to find a shaking girl lying on the bed. "Leah, honey what's wrong?" Grissom asked as Sara bent down in front of her.

A quiet mumble came from under the pillow, "nightmare." Sara removed that pillow, and sat on the bed, wrapping her arms around the child. Leah fell into the embrace, and started to sob again, while Sara whispered soothing words into her ear. Grissom watched from the foot of the bed, helpless. Unexpectedly, Leah stretched out her hand as if asking for permission of he would hug her as well. He complied, but was a little uncomfortable. It wasn't until Sara gently rubbed her hand across his arm that he relaxed. For that moment, he hoped that they would never leave.

However, it seemed that not everyone felt the same as he did, for it wasn't that much later, that he received a phone call from Greg saying that Hank was being brought in for questioning. "Hank?" He almost screamed down the phone. He had left the bedroom, and was standing in the hallway, but Sara could still hear his part of the conversation.

"What's that about Hank?" She asked after Leah had calmed down and fallen back to sleep. She sounded angry. The only reason that his name would come up if a conversation that Grissom was having, would be if he had something to do with the murders. "Grissom, did he do this?" His muted response was enough for her.

"Sara, calm down, Brass is bringing him in for questioning. Apparently the blood on the knife matches his." He could see her beginning to fume. "It's going to be ok, just let them handle it. I'm gonna take the week off to spend time with both of you," she blushed, "and I want you to relax." His voice seemed to sooth her, until she calmed down.

"Ok, I'm gonna sit in with Leah now, do you have to go back to the lab?"

"Nope," he smiled and took a step closer towards her, "I'm on vacation, remember?" Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and dipped his head to meet hers.

* * *

Heehee I thought I would wait before I bring Hank into questioning :p. Also this chapter would have gone on for ages if I had put in another scene.

Please R&R :D


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for reviewing guys – you've been fantastic. This chapter is slightly longer then the others, mainly because people have wanted the second of the two scenes to be sooner rather then later, but the other scene really should come before it:D (A bit of fluff :D)

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Chapter 11 

Their first kiss was nothing like how Sara had imagined. She wondered for a moment how he learnt how to kiss like that. She thought it would probably be better if she didn't know. 'Wow' she thought as they finally parted for air. She was still seeing stars when his voice brought her back down to earth.

"Feel better?" He asked with a smug grin plastered on his face. She was speechless, so just nodded a response. She too had a smile on her face, one that very quickly escalated into a full blown 'Sara-smile.' She seemed to be giving him quite a few since they found Leah, and he was momentarily both pleased that she was happy, and proud that he was the reason for them. "Weren't you going to go and sit in with Leah?" He asked chuckling.

She blushed, "Yeah, I was, but then someone distracted me." It was his turn to blush, "Anyway, she's asleep at the moment, do you think she would notice if I was gone for longer then just creeping outside and back in again?" She asked mischievously.

Grissom's cheeks became even redder, if that was possible. He grabbed Sara by the wrists and repeated the move that she had asked him do 18months previously. "You once asked me to 'pin you down.'" She nodded, while trying to hold in the giggle. "But you see the problem, was that you never let me finish what I wanted to do. You did your usual and pretend it never happened. Do you want to know what I wanted to do?" She barely nodded her head before Grissom leant forward, catching her lips with his. He could feel her smiling into the kiss.

Neither of them had noticed that when Sara was pushed back, she hit the wall and created a banging noise. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but it woke the 13 year old sleeping in the room behind it. Leah had quietly opened the door to see what the problem was, but was met by her parents kissing each other like teenagers. She froze. As much as she wanted them to be together so they could be a family, there were some things that you seriously didn't want to see. 'At least they weren't in the bedroom' she thought shuddering. She coughed to get their attention. When it didn't she tried again louder. Both adults froze before slowly releasing each other and turning towards her clearly embarrassed and avoiding eye contact. It was like getting caught by your parents at home when you're a teenager, only this time it was the other way around.

"Can you please be a little bit quieter next time?" Leah asked, "Some of us are trying to sleep." She walked back into the room and closed the door. Sara mouthed a 'sorry' and what Grissom could guess as a 'be back later.'

As he walked back into the living room, he couldn't believe how much had changed in 24 hours. He had first found out that Sara's brother and sister-in-law had been murdered. Originally their daughter was missing as well, but it had turned out that she had run away from the room because of what had happened. It appears that Hank's responsible, although they're not sure as he hasn't been questioned yet. He soon found out that Leah was in fact his own daughter, and Sara was her mother. At first he was hurt, but it wasn't long before he got over the pain and concentrated on looking after Leah. Finally, he and Sara had kissed. That was one of the things he really couldn't believe. He never thought it would happen, but since it has, things have been getting a lot better. Ok so it was only 5 minutes ago, but already things seem to be calmer between the two and maybe it will be easier to work together once they get back.

"Hey" Sara called. He hadn't realized how long he had been sitting there, but it must have been a while.

"Hey," he repeated. "How's she doing?" she sat down next to him and snuggled up against his chest.

"Better, she's fallen asleep again, hopefully we won't wake her up again so she'll get her much needed sleep." She could see him blushing again. "It's ok, don't worry, it was quite fun actually, sneaking around, so we got caught, isn't that part of the fun?" she asked mischievously. He let out a small laugh.

He looked up at the clock hanging up on the wall. "Well, I suppose we had better get some sleep as well." It was still daylight, but since they worked the night shift, they were used to sleeping at funny times. Sara nodded. "Are you going to stay here? Or are you going to go back to your apartment?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. He could tell what her answer was. Slowly he released her from the comfortable position they were in, to Sara's disappointment, and stood up before pulling her up with him. He held her hand while directing her towards his bedroom. "We are only going to 'sleep' now," he saw the grin on her face, "There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow I'm sure." He whispered in her ear and she blushed.

* * *

Meanwhile, at police headquarters, Hank Pettigrew had just been escorted into an interrogation room along with two armed officers, his lawyer, Brass and Greg. "Morning Hank, I hope we didn't disturb you when we went to get you." Brass began in his usual style. 

He was given a grunt in response.

"Now that the introductions are over and down with would you like to tell me why you were in Mr. and Mrs. Sidle's hotel room last night?"

"I wasn't there, I was at home with my fiancé Elaine." He replied. "As a matter of fact, since I didn't have to work last night or today, I cooked dinner and we had an early night. We slept all night." He gave a grin that Brass didn't like.

"I take it that Elaine will confirm your alibi." Hank nodded. "Ok then, how would you explain the blood on the knife that killed them then?" Brass's voice was beginning to get louder.

Hank's lawyer decided to but in, "My client doesn't know how the blood got there as he was asleep with his fiancé the whole night." 'I hate lawyers' Brass agreed on for what seemed like the millionth time.

"It's ok Jane," Hank began, "I was using a knife to prepare dinner when I cut my finger, and some of the blood must have stayed on the knife while I was trying to clean it. When I returned from the bathroom after getting a plaster, I noticed the knife was missing. Perhaps someone broke in and stole it?" He had a smug look on his face. The one that people have when they seem to have an answer for everything. Brass hated that look just as much as he hated lawyers.

He laughed, and Hank wondered why the detective was. "Good story, so you're saying that you cleaned the knife, and that it was stolen."

"That is correct." His lawyer said while both she and Hank started to stand. "And I think we're done her for now. As you haven't arrested my client yet-"

"SIT DOWN!" Brass bellowed, making not only them jump, but Greg and the other officers in the room as well. After regaining composure, they complied. "Thank you, no where were we? Oh yes, the blood from the knife. You see, there was too much blood for you to have cleaned the knife, which already contradicts your story, and, Greg?"

"And we found your blood on top of the blood belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Sidle. Do you know what that means?" Greg stared at the suspect, and when he didn't move, the CSI continued, "It means that you cut yourself after you stabbed and killed two people." He was pleased that Brass had allowed him to conduct some of the interview, especially a careful and special case like this. He was also enjoying watching Hank, who was normally cool and sophisticated, squirm in his seat, feeling defeated. Perhaps this was pay-back for what he did to Sara?

Silence crowded the room, before Jane, the lawyer, and Hank stood and left the room to be escorted to a cell. "There is just one thing Hank," Greg called out before the man had left the room, "Why did you do it?"

"Why?" He nodded. "I'll tell you why. Because that bitch ruined my life! Elaine found out about her a couple of days after the accident and left me. Last night we did get together and I cooked, but we ended up having a screaming match."

"That still doesn't explain why Sara's brother and sister-in-law." Greg reasoned. He thought that Brass would try and stop him, but surprisingly he didn't. He assumed that he was intrigued to the answer as well. After all, he cared about Sara as much as the next person, well except maybe Grissom.

"It wasn't meant to be them," his voice had softened slightly, "I wanted to get the kid, but I couldn't find her. Instead the man tried to through me out so I stabbed him and shoved him on the bed. I was surprised that his wife didn't wake up, but incase she did, I stabbed her as well. I heard some shuffling in the room, but I thought I must have been someone upstairs." He laughed.

"But why kill Leah, what did she do?" Greg asked. Silently pleading for the answer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not.

"Leah? Is that her name? Leah Grissom. Or was it Sidle? I suppose it could be either." He looked over at the two people still sitting at the table and laughed at their reactions. He knew this was how they were going to react, so he felt that he might as well tell them. I would probably ruin her career anyway, once higher people knew the truth. Thus, hurting her even more. Just the reaction he wanted.

Inside both Brass and Greg's heads were thoughts at about 50MPH. neither of them had noticed Hank finally leave in the direction of the cells. They were both confused. "Did he just say what I think he just said?" Greg asked the older detective.

"I think so. I'm guessing that this means, Leah is Sara and Gil's kid. Phew, never would have seen that one coming. We all believed that she was Sara's niece. Gil, didn't say anything otherwise-"

He was cut off by Greg, "Maybe Grissom didn't know."

A look of thought passed over Brass before he nodded and opened his cell phone to dial Grissom's number for information. After no response, and looking at the time, he thought he would ask his friend when he came to work tonight, if he did. And he would, himself, go home to bed, and maybe have a party with his friends in the bottles to try and clear his head.

Greg also decided to go home. 'Sometimes cases are too much for people. I don't know how some people cope.' He thought before standing and leaving the station.

* * *

Please R&R 

Wow I managed to write a chapter without a cliffhanger in it! I could finish here, since the case has finished, but I doubt it will (Too many fluff scenes I can see happening in the future :D). I have no idea how many chapters there will be in the end lol. But someone tell me when they think a good ending will be 


	12. Chapter 12

Wahoo, another fluff chapter :p. All I really have left for this story is fluff, so unless anyone else can give me some ideas about how to progress it, that's what this'll become for a few chapters before I decide to finish it. (But I don't think it is yet, perhaps just a few more  :D)

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Chapter 12

After probably the best nights sleep she had had in a long time, Sara reluctantly awoke to find a set of blue eyes staring at her from the other side of the bed. "How long have you been awake?" She asked him.

"About ½hr, you seemed so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you." He smiled, and somehow, no matter how hard she tries, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Do you think they caught whoever did it?" She asked, not really wanting to bring the subject up, but knowing that it needed to be approached at some point anyway.

Grissom looked at her sympathetically, "I honestly don't know Sara, but I don't think we should worry about it right at this moment. Besides-" he grinned mischievously, and whispered in her ear, "we don't know how long we have before Leah wakes up."

She smiled again and leant over to kiss him. "Yuk," she immediately cried, trying to control her laughter.

"What?"

"Sorry, morning breath," she giggled as she got out of bed and headed towards the door. "You coming with me? I'm just gonna get a drink before I come back to bed-" she heard the sound of a door opening then closing before she added, "or not." She smiled sadly, giving him an apologetic look. She had slept in one of Grissom old T-shirts and boxers, which were fine when she was in bed, but upon standing and walking around, appeared to be a little bit too big, and showed her very fragile frame. She hugged herself to not only keep the clothing on without it falling down, but also to keep warm since she had lost her 'heated teddy bear' she called Grissom.

Grissom rose from the bed and began to follow her out, but before she could get anywhere, he grabbed her from behind, putting his hand over to mouth to try and muffle the screaming, which after a while sounded more like giggling, and began to kiss her neck. He spun her round to face him. "Look, it's only 9am, and considering we didn't get to sleep until about 3 or 4, I think that Leah is still very tired." They heard a toilet flush, before another door being opened and the closed again, and then silence. "Why don't I go and get us something to drink while you quickly go and check if Leah is going back to sleep or not, I hope she is." He could see her blushing even in the dim light in the room due to the heavy curtains. Even after 15 years of working the nightshift, he never did get used to sleeping in the day, so as much light blanked out as possible was welcome.

Sara nodded and headed towards the spare bedroom before poking her head inside the room. She could see the outline of a figure lying on the bed. It seemed as though Leah had fallen asleep again before she could make it under the covers. Sara smiled and stepped into the room. She tip-toed around the bed towards the sleeping child, and lifted her up before pulling the covers out from under her. Slowly she placed her back down onto the bed and pulled the covers over her again. She smiled and was surprised that she managed to do it all without waking Leah up. She bent down and kissed her on the forehead before heading back out of the room. Sara took one more look at the sleeping child before closing the door behind her.

As she was walking towards the kitchen, she could feel tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, and was so far into her own little world, that she didn't realize Grissom was there until she walked straight into him, spilling to contents of the mugs he was carrying. "Sorry," she said embarrassed and tried to take one of the mugs from him, but still avoided eye contact. She didn't like him seeing her when she was upset.

"Hey what's wrong?" he asked putting a finger under her chin to try and make eye contact.

"Nothing," she sniffed, shaking her head. 'How useless was she at lying?'

"Sara," he began in his more supervisor tone, "that's obviously not true, so why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"

She nodded and indicated with her head to lead them into the bedroom, rather then having the conversation in the middle of the hallway, where they risk waking Leah up again. Once inside, Sara sat on the edge of the bed with her hands on her lap, struggling to keep the tears in. Grissom had knelt down in front of her and taken her hands in his. She again refused to make eye contact, afraid of what might happen if she did. "Did I do the right thing?" She whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, "should I have kept her and raised her myself?" she risked looking into his eyes, and as she thought she would, she immediately broke down. Grissom sat there, speechless, unsure of what to say. He wrapped his arms around her and let her sob into his shoulder.

"You did what you thought was right at the time." He soothed, "it wasn't as if she left your life completely, was it?" he paused to let her calm down slightly. He pulled her away from him, but she wouldn't look at him. "Look at me," he said. With no response, he asked again, "Sara, honey, please look at me." Reluctantly, she raised her head and was met with a comforting set of blue eyes. "You did nothing wrong, just think, if you hadn't let your brother raise her, then you wouldn't be where you are now, and your brother wouldn't have had any kids."

"Yes, but he and Angela would still be alive," she sniffed. "Oh no, I've just remembered, I've got things like the funerals to organize-" he held up his hand to stop her.

"No," he said firmly, "not now, at this moment in time, you are going to relax and not worry, ok?" when she nodded, he smiled and picked her up to place her on the bed. At first she protested, but to shut her up, he had used the tactic of kissing her. 'Mental note, this is a good way of keeping her quiet.' He smiled at the thought.

She thought she heard him mumble something, but wasn't quite sure. Reluctantly, she broke away from the kiss, "what did you just say?"

"I said that I love you." And just like any of the other times that he said something that made her speechless, he returned to kissing her like nothing had happened.

It took a few moments before it properly registered what he had said. 'He actually loves me,' she smiled at the thought. For the second time she broke away from the kiss, and stared straight into his eyes. Boldly, she announced, "I love you too." Smiling he bent his head down and kissed her more passionately.

Slowly, he raised her enough so that he could remove her – or rather his – T-shirt. She seemed to offer no resistance, and instead, helped. 'This was going to be one hell of a night,' he thought, 'but the best one ever.'

* * *

Please R&R, love hearing from you guys 


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